Dec. 10 (UPI) — The United States seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela amid ongoing tensions between President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The tanker was seized during a “judicial enforcement action on a stateless vessel” that had docked in Venezuela, Bloomberg reported.
“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a late-afternoon post on X.
U.S. officials sanctioned the oil tanker several years ago due to its “involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” Bondi explained.
“This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely — and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”
According to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, on Wednesday, the FBI, Homeland Security, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant off the coast of Venezuela for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. Screengrab via U.S. Attorney General/UPI
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security, Coast Guard and Defense Department executed a seizure warrant off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. Screengrab via U.S. Attorney General/UPI
U.S. military personnel seized the tanker by fast-roping from a helicopter to board it, Bloomberg reported.
Trump earlier confirmed the tanker’s seizure at the start of a 2 p.m. EST roundtable at the White House.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the United States years ago sanctioned the oil tanker for transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran and seized it on Wednesday. Screengrab via U.S. Attorney General/UPI
“We’ve just seized a tanker off the coast of Venezuela — the largest tanker ever seized,” Trump said at the start of the roundtable meeting.
He said “it was seized for a very good reason” and the “appropriate people” would address the matter when asked for more information by a reporter.
U.S. Navy forces are patrolling the Caribbean now as part of the U.S. effort against Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro. File Photo by PO2 Triniti Lersch/U.S. Navy
The vessel’s seizure occurred as the Trump administration has been applying pressure on Maduro, whom Trump has accused of being a narco-trafficker and of stealing the country’s 2024 presidential election by declaring himself the winner.
The Trump administration has designated Cartel de los Soles aka Cartel of the Sun a foreign terrorist organization that includes many Venezuelan military and government officials among its leadership.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a carrier strike group to join other U.S. Navy vessels in the Caribbean Sea amid ongoing strikes against small craft departing Venezuela and other nations that are alleged tobe carrying illicit drugs.
The oil tanker’s seizure and the presence of the U.S. military in international waters near Venezuela are likely to discourage oil companies from transporting Venezuelan crude oil.
“Shippers will likely be much more cautious and hesitant about loading Venezuelan crude going forward,” Kpler oil analyst Matt Smith told CNBC.
Rystad Energy’s Jorge Leon, who is in charge of the firm’s geopolitical analysis, told Bloomberg the U.S. seizure of a “Venezuelan tanker” is a “clear escalation from financial sanctions to physical interdiction.”
The seizure “raises the stakes for Caracas and anyone facilitating its exports,” Leon said.
The Trump administration also has advised international airlines to be cautious when approaching Venezuela, which has caused many to suspend operations there.
